A New Home
by Saige C.P
Summary: COMPLETE! Sequel to 'For You, I Will'. After getting a letter from his mother Harry is reunited with his real father and given a home. But Hermione, still hostage at Malfoy Manor, is going to uncover a secret about Harry's family that no one saw coming.
1. Chapter 1

A NEW HOME

By Saige C.P

**Chapter One **

**Memories**

'Excellent!' Harry and Severus both jumped at the intrusion. Dumbledore had come back into the room, his usually beaming self again. 'Now that that's over, we can go and have breakfast.'

The other two laughed and followed him out without complaint.

Harry trailed behind the two older wizards, happy to let them talk between themselves. His mind was somewhere else. He couldn't believe what was happening; Snape wanted to be his father. They were going to be a family. Or at least try. He couldn't say it enough times in his head. _He had a father! He had a father!_ He wasn't alone anymore. He wouldn't have to go back to the Dursleys. He thought of the only other time he'd been offered a different home; that night when he had met Sirius.

_Sirius! _

Harry had completely forgotten about him lately. How would he react when he found out about this? Would he think it was a joke? Would he be angry? Would he hate him? Harry pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He would have to tell his godfather before this whole thing became public. He tuned back into the conversation in front of him.

'…and don't say anything to the others, Severus; ignore all questions or at least evade them. I will explain everything to them in a staff meeting after breakfast.'

'It would be better that way,' his father agreed as they entered the Great Hall. Most of the other professors were already seated at the staff table eating their breakfast and talking amongst themselves. Professor McGonagall was the first to notice the three of them and her eyes immediately fell on him suspiciously; obviously not recognising him and he kept his head down. He took the seat indicated to him, between the headmaster and his father, so the others couldn't get a proper look at him. At first none of them said anything but Harry could feel their gazes on him as he took a bite out of his toast.

'Surely you'll introduce us to our young guest, Albus. Is he a relative of yours?' Professor McGonagall asked suddenly and immediately everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. Harry felt his face redden but kept chewing at his toast, not knowing what else to do.

'Actually Minerva, you've just reminded me about something I needed to tell you all,' Dumbledore said casually and then he spoke to the whole table. 'A staff meeting will be held in the staff room after breakfast to discuss an important matter that has arisen.'

Harry was getting more stares then ever now. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hagrid looking at him susceptibly and Harry turned his head away. Did Hagrid recognised him? Harry hoped he wouldn't say anything if he did.

Harry sat quietly in the corner of the crowded staff room; averting anyone's gaze. So far only Professor Flickwich had spoken to him; asking him how he was this fine morning. But as he'd been instructed by Dumbledore, he hadn't replied; still keeping his head down. If he spoke the teachers would recognise him immediately. Flickwich tried again and then gave up saying 'The young man must be shy,' and everyone else left him alone after that. He hated not talking to them, especially Hagrid but he was more nervous of the things that would be said once the headmaster and his father arrived.

Soon the professors all sat down, none of them taking a seat near him and Professor Dumbledore came in with Snape following closely behind. There were a lot of empty seats as not all the staff came back this early before the term, but Harry was surprised when his father came and sat in the seat next to him; giving him a comforting smile. Harry smiled back at him gladly. The teachers watched this strange exchange for a moment and them turned their attention to Dumbledore who stood at the head of the room.

'Thank you all for coming,' he said smiling at them kindly. 'I trust you have all noticed that one of our students, young Harry, has returned to us early.'

'Harry?' said Professor Sprout, before anyone else could speak, 'Harry Potter?'

'Yes, of course,' said the headmaster, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone in the room looked at him again all of them very confused, no one saying anything. Finally Hagrid spoke up, 'Harry?' he said to the quiet boy.

Harry looked at his father, silently asking him what to do. When the man nodded, he gladly turned to the grounds keeper smiling. 'Hello, Hagrid.'

The room was filled with everyone's gasps. 'Harry!' Hagrid yelled happily and he bounded forward pulling Harry into a bone-crushing hug. 'What happ'nd t'ya Harry? Ya don look ya'self. I din reco'nees ya, but I thaw ya look'd amil'ya. I did.'

'It's great to see you, Hagrid,' gasped Harry, still avoiding the questions.

'But why does he look so different?' McGonagall asked Dumbledore who was watching the exchange between the boy and the half-giant amused.

'If Hagrid and Harry would sit down again, I will explain everything.' Everyone gave him their fullest attention now and Hagrid took the three seats on Harry's other side. 'Minerva, you remember teaching Harry's mother when she was at school, don't you?'

'Yes I do. I mean, who wouldn't? She was extremely talented. Passed at the top of my Transfiguration class.'

'She was very talented indeed,' Dumbledore continued, 'So talented in fact, that she managed to completely disguise her son with a complex illusion spell that lasted fifteen years.'

The professors looked more confused than ever. 'What do you mean disguise him?' asked Flickwich.

'This image before you: this is Harry's true appearance. The face you knew for the last four years was an illusion Lily created to make Harry look like James Potter.'

McGonagall shook her head. 'What are you trying to tell us, Albus?'

'The illusion spell that Lily cast on Harry only lasted fifteen years; and now he looks the way he should. Why did she do this in the first place, you ask? Because Harry isn't the son of James Potter.'

A startled silence. All understood what Dumbledore had been trying to tell them, but what he was saying was utter madness. James not Harry Potter's father…how was that possible? This must be some sort of joke or maybe the headmaster had finally gone insane.

'Then who's son is he?' They all looked to Dumbledore and none of them notice Snape put his arm around the supposed Harry comfortingly.

'Mine,' said Snape loudly so that everyone in the room could hear. Another silence. They all turned to see Severus and Harry; Severus with his arm around the boy, the way a father would hold his son. At once they could all see the similarity of the two; the hair, the cheekbones, the eyebrows. There was no denying the likeness between them…but how was it possible that…

'Of course!' exclaimed Madam Pomfrey suddenly. 'I recall you and Lily getting married, Severus. But how long ago was that?'

'Fifteen year,' his father murmured. Harry could feel him shaking; he knew this must be hard for him. He grasped the man's other hand and Severus thankfully squeezed back.

'Yes, now I remember,' McGonagall said smiling, 'you proposed to her down by the lake on your graduation night. Then you two were so happy that you snuck out to Hogsmeade at the crack of dawn the next day and got married right away.' All of the older professors grinned; remembering the day too. 'And when the two of you came back we gave you a months detention for leaving the school without permission and all you said, Severus, was; 'I don't care, I'm the happiest man in the world.'

Severus couldn't believe McGonagall and most of the other professors could remember that. He looked down to see his son smiling up at him disbelievingly. 'Did you really?' Harry asked him.

'Yes.'

'I had completely forgotten about it. It was so long ago,' said Flitwick.

'But surely this is a very dangerous situation, Albus, something has to be done about this.'

'Yes Pomona you are right, we are treading on hazardous terrain here. However we have failed to find another way to disguise him that wouldn't harm Harry. We have decided to leave things the way they are; by September the whole wizarding community will know and we must be prepared.'

Two hours later the meeting was finally over and the staff members of Hogwarts moved out of the staff room one at a time. Harry had thought it would never end. Finally Harry and Severus were the only ones left in the room.

'Are you ok?' Severus asked him, looking at him worriedly. 'You look a little pale.'

'Yeh,' he said, 'I'm just a little tired.'

Severus nodded. 'Come with me.'

Curiously Harry followed him out the room and out into the corridor. They headed up the grand staircase and were soon heading down the ninth floor corridor towards the western side of the castle. 'Where are we going?'

'My quarters,' Severus said stopping in front of a tall painting of a beautiful lake on the wall.

'Oh,' he said as Snape whispered a password to the painting which swung away like a door to reveal a hidden doorway, 'you don't have to, it's ok, I could just go to Gryffindor Tower.'

'Dumbledore doesn't want to you up there by yourself, besides, I want you here.'

Harry went in after him, stepping into a large room. The room was made up of a small kitchen and a lounge area with comfortable oak chairs by a warm fireplace. The walls were lined with bookshelves made of the same cherry red wood that panelled the floor. Where there were no book, the walls were blank, an appealing neutral colour and there was a small hallway with four doors that led into other rooms. Harry smiled when he saw his trunk and broomstick outside one door.

'You can stay here for the time being if you like,' Severus said, leading him down the hallway, 'you can have this room. I never use it anyway.'

It was a small room but not as cramped as his room back at the Dursleys. There was a single bed in the corner that was collecting dust, a tall wooden cupboard and table; and surprisingly, another sliding door that led out onto a balcony that had a beautiful view of the Black Lake.

'If you don't want to, we'll have to find…

'I'd like to stay with you,' Harry interrupted him, loving this place already. It was strangely overwhelming; everything was happening so quickly. He received one of his father's smiles which were becoming less and less rare. 'Good…I am afraid I must go speak with Dumbledore for a while before lunch, if that's alright with you.'

'Sure.'

'Feel free to look around; make yourself at home.' Harry felt a twitch of excitement. No one had ever said that to him before. 'Oh, and the cupboard is full with old possessions of mine but I'll have it all out later so you can put your belongings in.'

'Ok.'

With another smile, Severus left the room.

Harry picked up his trunk and slammed it onto the bed, a cloud of dust rising up into the air. Laughing, he went through his messy belongings until he found his parchment, ink and quill at the bottom. Sitting himself down at the table he began to write.

Snuffles,

I'm not sure where you are or if you're still out in the mountains so I'll keep it short as always in case this letter goes astray. I've been thinking about you a lot lately and I hope you're safe wherever you are. I thought I should write to you to let you know I'm ok and feel much better. A lot has been going on since then; I'm back at school now actually if you don't know already. Dumbledore wants me here to keep me safe, I'll be here for the rest of the year. I'm not complaining but I'm scared this means I won't see you for a long time. If it's alright with you I'm going to ask Dumbledore if I can see you some time before term starts, there's some things I need to talk to you about. The sooner the better. I really miss you. Hope to see you soon,

Harry.

Harry finished by signing the letter, folded it up and then set it aside for Hedwig for when she came. He'd go looking for her at the Owlery now but he had other letters to write as well as that one to Ron and Hermione.

Ron,

We got to school ok. We took the train, apparently you can't apparate into the school or the village anymore for security reasons. Everything's been kind of bizarre. Can't say much in case a Death Eater or something gets this but I'll tell you all about it when you get here. I hope it's soon. Hint, hint. I'm going to write to Hermione after you, I haven't heard from her for ages. Have you? Anyways hope everything's alright there and say hello to everyone for me. Hope you come soon, I don't think I'll be able to convince the teachers to play Quidditch with me.

Harry.

Hermione,

No doubt I'm interrupting one of your study sessions but I thought I should write seeing as I haven't written for so long. I know some of my previous responses have been quick and plain and I'm really sorry. A lot has been going on lately but it's too risky to explain everything in this letter. I'll tell you all about it when we see each other again but don't worry about it, ok? If you want to write back you'll need to send your letters to Hogwarts; again I'll explain when you see me. Hope your holidays are going great, don't spend too much time studying. We all know you're brilliant already.

Harry

Finally finished Harry sat his quill down and let out a shaky sigh. He turned to the giant cupboard in the corner; suddenly interested with its contents. Getting up he walked over to it, his mind set on searching it. Slowly he opened one of the doors. The shelves were filled with huge boxes but they were all shut closed so he couldn't peer inside them. But one box up the back caught his attention immediately. Reaching inside he pulled it out; it was a little smaller than the other cases and was covered in an inch thick of dust. He sat himself on the floor with it, starring hypnotised at what was neatly written on the front: _Lily_.

He didn't hesitate as he lifted the dusty lid. Inside was another box but not moth-eaten and musty like the bigger one. This box was made of a beautiful polished wood; lined with detailed ancient engravings along the edges and on the hinged top was an elegant pair of mother-of-pearl doves joined at the beaks. Harry carefully lifted it out, surprised by how heavy it was, and set it gingerly on his lap. He started at it for a long time his mind going wild over what he would find in it; tracing the doves wings with his fingers.

'Where did you find that?'

Harry jumped and saw Severus had returned, standing in the doorway. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked in the cupboard.' He began to put it hastily back in the box.

'No, no.' Severus stopped him, taking a seat on the floor next to Harry. 'It's fine. I've been looking for this for days now. It was in the cupboard you say; I never thought to look there. Quite stupid of me really.' He put the box gently on the ground, gazing at it thoughtfully.

'What's in it?'

'Memories.' Severus replied simply. 'Would you like to look?'

He met the boy's gaze, he looked very excited. 'Yes.'

'Ok.' Taking a deep breath he undid the latch and pushed the lid back. The box was filled to the brim with old photographs; there had to be over a hundred in there. Picking up the one on top, Harry brushed away the dust to find his mother Lily smiling back at him.

'She's beautiful isn't she?'

'I've never seen a picture of her before.'

Severus looked at his son disbelievingly. 'Really?'

'Yeah, but she is beautiful. She's just as I pictured her.' Harry couldn't stop staring at her. It was wonderful to see a photo of her smiling and laughing on what looked a great summer day; not just hearing her screams as she died in his head. 'How old was she when this was taken?'

'That wasn't long after we were married. We were only eighteen; just three years older than you are now.'

'How come you two got married so quickly?'

'Couldn't wait I guess.' He picked up another picture. This one was of their wedding day; if it could really qualify as a proper wedding. They'd been wearing jeans and warm jackets to protect them from the chilly morning air. Having run down to the wizard village, they'd found someone who had some experience with performing wedding ceremonies and gotten married in the street. He gave the photo to Harry and the boy smiled down at the image of his mother and his father in each others arms in the freezing cold.

With Harry, Severus went through the whole box looking at all the pictures of Lily and himself. He hadn't looked at them for fifteen years, for a while he'd actually forgotten they existed. There were so many: Lily and him at school, in Hogsmeade, on their wedding day, on their world trip after they'd left Hogwarts and at their apartment in London. How long ago it had all been. They had been so happy and he had let it all slip away.

Harry looked worriedly at him, seeing his sad expression. 'You kept them all these years…even after what happened.'

'I could never bring myself to throw them away.'

Their eyes met, they seemed to reach some silent understanding. They trusted each other, even if it was just a little bit at the moment. Maybe this _could_ work out after all, they both thought.

'Sir, I…' Harry began, but then he wasn't sure how to continue. How could he tell this man how grateful he was for what he had done for him? There was a loud bang from the living room and they were both up immediately, wands in hand. They hadn't heard the door open; Severus was pretty sure only Dumbledore knew the password to his quarters anyway.

Severus could hear someone's breathing. If they hadn't come through the painting then they must have arrived by the floo network. Whoever it was, they couldn't be a threat if they'd managed to get through but Severus still moved cautiously as he crept to the door and peered down the hallway; Harry close behind him. He couldn't see anyone but then he glanced down at the floor by the fireplace and saw a limp body lying faced down. Realising who it was, he hurried forward to him and turned him over, immediately checking for a pulse.

Harry came up behind his father. Gasping when he saw none other than Draco Malfoy lying on the floor, covered in soot and blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Guest**

'Is he alright?' Harry asked.

His father ignored him, frantically examining the limp figure on the floor. Severus was relieved to see the blonde breathing; he was merely unconscious. He soon found that most of the blood was coming from a wound in the boy's shoulder but it was shallow and could be easily patched up. Apart from that, as far as he could tell, Draco was fine but he must have been absolutely spent if he'd passed out when he'd arrived.

_But what is he doing here?_

'Sir?'

Severus looked up at his son, only just noticing he was behind him. 'Harry, I must go alert the Headmaster. Do you think you can get him into your room and lay him down. He's fine but he shouldn't get up if he awakes.'

'Ok.' His father ran out the room before he could say anything else. Harry half carried and half dragged his classmate down the hallway to his room. He quickly performed a cleaning charm to rid the bed of the dust before finally laying Malfoy along it. He saw the gash on his shoulder and wondered how he'd gotten it. Surely his parents wouldn't have let their precious son come to harm while he was staying with them? Wasn't that where he was supposed to be? At home? Why had he come here?

He heard the portrait swing open again, announcing the return of his father. 'That was quick,' he said when Severus entered the bedroom, immediately returning to Malfoy's side.

'Dumbledore is at a meeting but he wants us to alert him immediately once he is awake. Has he woken yet?'

'No, he's pretty out of it,' Harry told him, slightly jealous that Malfoy was getting all of his father's attention. He shook his head forcibly. _Stop being so selfish! He could be hurt! _'Why would he come here?'

'Perhaps he was in trouble, I cannot be sure. He will have to tell us.' Severus gave a quick flick of his wand and the wound was instantly healed. He turned back to his son who was staring at Malfoy suspiciously. 'How about something to drink?'

'Ok.' Harry followed Severus into the kitchen where he poured both of them a glass of juice. The older man slumped down into a chair by the table with a solemn look on his face, obviously something was bothering him. Harry took a seat awkwardly beside him trying to think of something to put his mind at ease. 'He'll be alright.'

'It's not his health I'm worried about, it's why he had to leave his home and why he didn't have help there if he needed it.' Severus took another sip of his juice, still thinking deeply. 'Let's talk about something else. What do you plan on doing while you're here?'

Harry actually laughed. 'What kind of question is that? Is there anything I can do besides hide in the castle till term starts?'

'I guess not. I think we'll be stuck here for a while.'

'Forever sounds more likely.'

'You don't like it here?'

'No, I love it here! Hogwarts is my home! If it weren't for this place…'

'…you'd have nowhere else?'

'Yeh, I wouldn't,' confirmed Harry, staring at the base of his glass a little too interestedly.

A touchy pause. Harry knew what his father would ask him next.

'Harry,' Severus started cautiously waiting for his son to look up at him, 'what happened at your relative's house?'

The boy gave no answer, only stared at him sadly. Severus knew the Harry couldn't talk about this comfortably yet and that it was still very upsetting for him but he had to get Harry to open up. He was determined to help him, especially after hearing what Arthur had said back at The Burrow. Harry needed help, he needed it now before things got worse. Severus could tell that there was some things he was keeping to himself, things he wasn't telling anyone about. It really worried him.

'You don't have a lot of faith in adults, do you Harry?'

'No,' Harry whispered looking down again.

'Why is that?'

Harry paused, not liking where this was going at all. He'd never talked to anyone about this besides Ron. But there were things he was keeping inside that he didn't even tell his best friend about. Why was this man questioning him? He was just like everyone else, trying to pry into his personal life. _He's your father, he wants to help you. _That was a peculiar thought. Maybe Snape was trying to help him…he probably knows all about what happened at the Dursley's anyway; and Harry had said he wanted to try to have a relationship with this man. How was that going to work if he couldn't talk to him about this sort of thing?

'I guess I've gotten used to not depending on them for a lot of things.'

Severus nodded his understanding. He decided he was going to have to take a direct approach if this was going to get anywhere. 'Harry, did you know that child abuse is illegal?'

'Not until I was ten.'

'But none of your classmates at school would have been abused, surely you must have realised that what was being done to you was not normal.'

'I was told I deserved it.'

Severus gaped at him. The Dursleys told his son he deserved to be abused! He had to grip the arms of his chair tightly to stop himself from racing to the Dursleys there and then and blasting them into obliteration. How dare they say that to Harry! How dare they treat him so poorly! 'Why?'

'Because I was a freak…'

This was outrageous; he was going to kill Mr and Mrs Dursley. Make them wish they had never done this. 'And you honestly believed them?' He managed to control himself, so as not to worry poor Harry.

The boy laughed shakily. 'Well yeah, everyone did. I mean, I was the pathetic orphan who's drunk parents had died in a car crash, who strange things happened to. I would unexpectedly disappear when my cousin and his gang were chasing me and end up on the school roof, I accidentally set my teacher's wig on fire when she failed me in everything because Dudley had swapped my report with his, I could make things explode and make objects fly. One time my Aunt got so sick of my hair and she cut it all off except my fringe to hide my scar; all I could think of that night was how much I was going to get beat up for it at school the next day and when I woke up the next morning it had all grown back. Another time she tried to get me to wear this horrible old shirt of Dudley's but as she tried to pull it over my head it started to shrink and it got so small it soon would only have fitted a finger puppet. And the first time I talked to a snake…' Harry actually grinned 'you don't want to know what happened.'

'Well, you know those clothes are quite horrible,' He pointed to Harry's baggy shirt and ragged jeans.

'Well thanks,' Harry said sarcastically, 'Aunt Petunia never saw the point in buying me anything new anyways. She said I didn't need them.'

A short silence.

'I know you've been disappointed a lot in the past Harry, I know people have let you down terribly…But I can promise you I won't be like them; I will always be here for you if you need me.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Another pause. The cloak on the chimed five in the evening.

'Fancy a game of Wizard's Chess?' Harry asked him suddenly.

Severus smiled at the boy. 'Ok, but you'll lose miserably against me.'

'We'll see about that,' Harry laughed.

_In graveyard alone. There's no one around except him…and Cedric…dead at his feet. Cedric's dead! No! Running through the graves, trying to get away…Cedric appears in front of him…no…Cedric's ghost! Cedric, he calls out to him. You killed me! Cedric screams at him. No, I swear I didn't, he begs the ghost. It's all your fault, everyone who tries to help you dies and it's ALL YOUR FAULT! I'm sorry Cedric, I'm sorry! Please forgive me! he pleads. It's all your doing! You're cursed! First your mum, then Samuel and now ME! You killed all of us!_

Harry woke up hours later, but he didn't recognise where he was. For one fearful moment he thought he was back at the Dursleys but then he realised the bed he was in was much larger and so was the room; not to mention more exquisite. There was another door that led into a private bathroom and the same balcony on his room with the same view of the lake and the mountains in the distance. He had no idea how he had gotten there, he couldn't even remember falling asleep. He had been exhausted yesterday though, he must have dozed off without realising. But then how did he end up here? Wherever here was.

'You're finally awake I see.'

He saw his father at the door and felt immediately relieved. 'Thank god,' he said, 'I didn't know where I was…Where am I?'

Severus sniggered tiredly. 'This is my room. You fell asleep on the couch around eight yesterday. I brang you here as Mr Malfoy has temporarily kicked you out of your room.'

'But where did you sleep?'

Severus sighed. 'I have been watching our unexpected visitor, he is still unconscious.'

'I could have just slept in the living room,' said Harry, slipping out from under the covers at once and pulling on his shoes which he found at his feet, 'you must be exhausted.'

'I'm perfectly fine,' Severus told him, but he certainly didn't look fine, 'I must keep an eye on Mr Malfoy.' He was about to head back down the hallway to Harry's room again, but the boy stopped him suddenly.

'How about I watch him for a while, that way you can get some sleep.'

'I don't think…

'I'll take care of him and I promise I'll alert you if he wakes up.' Severus stared down at the teen hesitantly. He really was worn out….it had been a long day yesterday…and Harry was being very insistent…_Was he worried about me?_

'Go on! We'll be fine,' Harry continued.

'Are you sure?'

'Yes!' The boy was laughing at him now, making fun of his ambiguousness though Severus was very tempted to take his offer now. Nodding he turned back to his room but the Harry stopped him again. 'What do I tell him if he sees me?'

'Tell him you're my son, of course,' he said, 'but don't tell him your name. I don't think it would be wise if he knew who you were straight away.'

Draco peered around him, his eyes adjusting to the poor light._ Where am I? _He was layed out on a single bed in a small room but he didn't recognise it. All he could be sure about was he wasn't at the Malfoy Manor anymore and that was a good thing. He supposed that meant he was at Hogwarts, which was where he had flooed to after all.

Suddenly the door swung open and a shadowy figure came in; Draco couldn't see his face. He shut is eyes, pretending to be asleep as the figure eased the door shut and crept across the room to turn on a desk lamp. Opening his eyes a fraction, he saw the person was a teenager around his age; tall with messy black hair and green eyes. At first he'd thought he was looking at his arch nemesis, Harry Potter, but then he saw he wasn't, though he did look like him. Draco had never seen him at school before. Even if this guy did go to Hogwarts, what was he doing here before term? Maybe he wasn't in the castle after all.

The stranger sat down at the desk and picked up a book beside him and began to read. It was titled 'The Vast History of Quidditch' by Franwick Onadull and Draco admired the newcomer's taste; he had looked at the book once himself and it was an exceptional read. Really engrossed in the book now, the other boy didn't notice him staring openly at him; rocking back and forth rhythmically on the hind legs of his chair. Should he let the guy know he was a wake? Was this person supposed to be watching him? _Well he's not doing a very good job is he! _Only way to find out was to try…

'Hey,' he said a little too loudly. The stranger jumped, taken so much by surprise he fell backwards in the chair and slammed back-first onto the floor. Draco almost laughed at the sight but managed to stop himself before his titter escaped his mouth; not wanting to get on the stranger's bad side. 'Are you ok?' he managed to asked instead.

'Yep,' the guy gasped, rolling off the chair and clutching his back. Draco swore he'd heard that voice before. But where? Why was it so familiar? 'How long have you been awake?'

'Not long.' He propped himself up on his elbow, realising for the first time that his shoulder had been healed. 'Where am I?'

'At Hogwarts of course!' The boy got up shakily and went over to him. 'How are you feeling?'

Draco felt absolutely fine now. Though his stomach was bothering him. 'Hungry.'

'I'm sure there's something you can eat in the kitchen. Come on. I haven't had breakfast either actually.'

'How long have I been here?' he asked politely. He slipped out of the bed, he was still wearing the clothes he'd had on before. He felt slightly overdressed in his dining robes his mother got him to wear next to the other teenager who was wearing dark torn jeans and a black top that was way too big for him. He followed the boy out into a hallway into a kitchen and sitting room. The stranger indicated he should take a seat at the kitchen table and began looking through the draws and cupboards as if he didn't know where anything was.

'You got here yesterday evening; you were out of it all night…Cereal? Toast?' he asked him.

'Toast please.'

The black-haired boy put two pieces of bread in a strange device Draco had never seen before. 'Tea? Coffee?' Draco said he wouldn't mind coffee and the stranger poured a cup for each of them. 'You gave us quite a scare when you came, we thought you were dead.'

'We?'

'Me and my father,' the boy said carefully. Suddenly the pieces of bread shot out of the machine again completely toasted. Draco reminded himself to ask someone what the square object was; probably a Muggle invention.

'Who is your father?'

But the stranger ignored his question, asking him if he'd like jam on his toast instead.

'Yes please.'

Harry spread some strawberry jam on the toast, his back to Malfoy and his mind racing. It was strange talking to one of his most hated people pretending to be someone else. He wondered why Malfoy was being so polite. He's probably only like this around other purebloods, he must think I'm one. He was relieved that the other boy hadn't realised who he was yet, but he could tell he recognised him somehow. It was only a matter of time. He had to go wake Severus before things got out of control but he didn't want to wake his father when he'd just sent him to bed. Not yet. He could handle Malfoy, at least until breakfast was over anyway. He took the toast on a plate and levitated the coffees to follow him to the table. He sat himself opposite Malfoy putting the dish between them.

'I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy' the blonde said holding out his hand across the table to him.

'Samuel,' he replied of the top of his head, hesitantly shaking Mallory's hand, 'Call me Sam.' It was getting hard to conceal his identity; Malfoy had been hoping for a surname. _He wants to know who I am._ Well Harry wasn't going to make it easy for him, not till Severus woke up.

'I've never seen you at Hogwarts, do you go here?'

He was about to confirm that but then he thought that wouldn't be a good idea. He was going to have to lie. God! Why had he volunteered to watch Malfoy? 'No, I've been going to a school in Ireland. I've come over to visit my father for the holidays.'

'And who is he exactly?'

'He's a teacher here.'

Malfoy smirked. 'I guessed that much.' Sam's lack of sincerity was beginning to annoy him. _How hard is it for him to give me a straight answer? _'I mean what's his name?'

But just then another man walked in, looking tired and weary. Draco gasped to see his potions master, the man he'd come to find in the first place, glancing at him and then staring angrily at Sam. Looking between the two dark-haired men, he finally made the connection.

'I thought I told you to alert me as soon as he awoke?' Snape growled at Sam.

'I didn't want to disturb you; you haven't slept for ages,' the boy explained defiantly.

The older man grunted grudgingly as he poured himself some coffee. 'I trust you were polite and introduced yourself.'

'Sam's been great, he even made me breakfast,' Draco interrupted, wanting desperately to talk to his professor.

'_Sam?_ Make breakfast? That's a new one,' Severus teased his son, recovering from the initial confusion.

'I had to take care of our guest didn't I,' continued Sam, 'he was hungry so I made us some toast and I was just telling him about my school back in Ireland.'

Severus nodded perceptively. 'Well, can you go get the headmaster and tell him Mr Malfoy has finally joined us?'

'Yes, sir,' said Sam knowing not to argue and standing up to leave. 'Is it alright if I mail some letters at the Owlery on the way, sir?'

Snape looked at him pointedly. 'To whom?'

'My godfather, I was wondering if he'd like to catch up sometime.'

Severus nodded understandably. 'Be quick.'

Sam ran back into his room and came back in a minute later with a letter in his hand. 'See you later,' he said and then left the room through a portrait on the wall, leaving him alone with the potions master.

'I didn't know you had kids, I didn't even now you were married' Draco said after a short silence, glad to finally be able to talk to Snape alone.

'Samuel is an only child,' Snape explained, 'his mother died many years ago.'

'Oh, I'm sorry.'

Snape didn't want to talk about his family and this conversation was getting too risky so he changed the subject immediately. He had been waiting to get some answers out of Draco all night. 'Draco, why did you come to Hogwarts? Does your father know you're here?'

'No, he doesn't,' the boy replied, surprisingly bitterly, 'and I think it would be better for all of us if it stayed that way.'

'What do you mean?' Severus was getting worried.

'I have to tell you something…and if my father knew I was doing this he'd kill me…I want protection from the Order against my family.'

Severus nodded solemnly. 'And what will you be offering in return for these services?'

'I have important information that the Order of the Phoenix needs.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Warning**

It was odd walking around the Hogwarts all by himself. The castle felt strangely empty without all it's students running to the Great Hall or rushing to class or heading off to sit by the lake. Even the Hogwarts ghosts seemed to be absent. Harry decided to go to the Owlery first in case he didn't get the chance after speaking with the headmaster. He couldn't wait to see Hedwig, he hoped that she'd had a safe journey. Turning the corner, he pulled out Ron and Hermione's letters too; he hadn't wanted a lecture from his father about secrecy in his mail. He wasn't that daft!

He wondered what the Weasleys were doing, he missed them already. He wished he could have stayed longer, spending time with them, playing quidditch everyday and talking to Ginny. _Ginny_. Harry had been thinking about her a lot lately; about the time they'd spent together…about that blissful kiss…those gorgeous eyes…that sweet smelling hair…

What was happening to him? Was he in love? _You don't know what love is… _

'Harry?' He was snapped out of his thoughts and was surprised to see Dumbledore behind him, smiling cheerfully. 'What are you doing here, my boy?

'I was just going to your office, sir,' Harry replied conversationally.

The headmaster beamed at him. 'Well, I'm afraid you're going the wrong way. Have you forgotten your way around the castle already?'

'What…oh, no sir. I was just going to the Owlery first.'

The old wizard walked up to join him. 'Mind if I join you? I have a letter to send myself and this way we can talk while we go.'

'Of course, sir.' And they set off together, casually strolling the vast corridors.

They came to the Owlery tower and began to climb the stairs to the top, Dumbledore first and then Harry after him. Harry was surprised by how the headmaster could ascend the steep steps so energetically and he was finding it hard to keep up with his stride.

'So Harry, what is it you needed to see me about?' the headmaster asked, not sounding one bit out of breath.

'Professor Snape sent me to go get you. Malfoy's awake.' They reached the top of the staircase and Dumbledore opened the door for Harry to go in first.

'Ah yes, excellent! We shall go straight down to see them after we have sent the owls on their way.'

There were a lot less owls in the Owlery now that all the students were away for the holidays. Only the brown barn school owls were there now, most of them fast asleep after their nightly hunt. Harry scanned the rows, searching for that glistening snow white amongst the dull brown…but he couldn't see her. Why wasn't she here?

'Hedwig,' he called her, 'Hedwig?' Moving to the centre of the room, he looked around the again and still he couldn't see her. Maybe she was still out hunting. He looked out to the window hoping he'd see her there, flying towards him. But he couldn't see any owls out flying…but what was that on the ground by the window…

'HEDWIG!'

He rushed over to the desolate bird and scooped up her fragile body in his arms. One of her wings was broken and bent backwards. Her feathers where torn and disoriented and covered in the grim on the floor, dirtying her beautiful coat. Her red eyes were still openly staring at him but she was long gone; her body deathly cold in his hands. 'Hedwig…' he whispered hopefully, but he knew it was no good.

'Harry?' Dumbledore came up behind him. A grave look crossed his face when he saw the small bird in the boys arms; something was very wrong.

'S-she's d…' How could this happen? Who would do something like this?

'Harry,' Dumbledore continued, patting him on the back, 'there is a note.

Looking down Harry saw that he was right. Holding back a sob, he gently undid the string around her claw and still cradling her gingerly, unfolded the dark parchment. There wasn't a lot written on it; just a big sentence in the centre combined in wavering green handwriting.

All enemies of the

Dark Lord

shall receive the same fate.

Harry handed the letter over to Dumbledore and cradled his poor owl closer to his chest, fighting to hide his feelings of remorse and hatred. Death Eaters had done this; done this to his owl. They had attacked a helpless bird and used her to send a threat; resulting in her surely slow and painful death. They had attacked her…and just because she was his. Once again he was responsible for the life of another… _Hedwig, my Hedwig. I'm so sorry, girl. Please forgive me._

Hermione had never been in so much pain her whole life; she now knew how much pain Harry had gone through in May…the Cruciatus curse was seethingly painful. It ripped through her whole body, burning and biting every nerve. The pain was absolutely unbearable and it kept coming; it wouldn't stop. But she couldn't give in, she couldn't let them get to her.

Though the agony was shear torture the thought that this was the worst they could do to her kept her going. She knew they wouldn't kill her; she was safe as long as You-Know-Who needed her. Though if she let anything slip about Harry they would most definitely take him and kill him. She couldn't let that happen, she wouldn't let that happen.

'You filthy rabble! He wasn't there when we went to check…so where is he now?' Mr Malfoy asked her, stopping the curse momentarily so she could speak.

'I…I…I d-don't kno…

'You're lying!' He threw another curse at her this one more terrible then the previous. It lasted well over a minute causing her to thrash around as she lay on the grimy floor screaming.

'Take her away; I'm done with her for the day. Take her to one of the deeper chambers, drastic measures are in order,' Lucius growled tiredly. The pain stopped and Hermione went still, sobbing into the ground. She felt someone grabbed her around the waist and fling her carelessly over their shoulder and out of the interrogation room. She was too drained to fight them so she just hung there letting herself be taken away and hope it wasn't to the gallows. _Don't think that! They wouldn't hang you, they're not barbarians._

She was taken deeper and deeper; descending down flights and flights of stairs where the light was scarcer and the air was mustier. As soon as they entered a new corridor the man opened the first one on his left and threw her inside. She hit the floor hard, her body screaming for regimen. She heard the door slam shut and the sound echoed on the dungeon walls a little before fading into nothing and soon silence fell again.

Hermione didn't move; she was so cold and sore she wanted to black out and never wake up again. This last week had been torture, the only thing that kept her going was the hope that someone would come for her, though she prayed it wouldn't be Harry. If he came here, he'd die. She thought she could hear something near her and she looked up blindly into the dark, hoping she had just imagined it. She could hear footsteps; someone else was in here.

Suddenly a blinding ball of light appeared in front of her, brightening the room. When her eyes had adjusted, she peered through her eyelids to see a slim figure kneeling before her. The light was coming from a golden locket around the person's neck, shining with the brilliance of the sun. The stranger reached out a hand to touch her and she quivered away, jumpy after the assault upstairs.

'Shh,' the person cooed her gently and Hermione realised it was a women, 'it's ok. They're gone and I won't hurt you.' The soothing voice reminded her of her mother and Hermione immediately felt she could trust this women. She had a nice presence about her, it was so sweet and comforting.

Gingerly the women came up beside her and pulled her up into a sitting position and so she could lean her back against her chest, wrapping her arms friendlily around her. 'The Cruciatus really takes its toll when you're dehydrated and famished. Try to take slow, deep breaths,' she whispered kindly.

Hermione did what she said feeling much better suddenly. It felt relieving to have someone hold her and comfort her after a week of isolation and fear. She clung onto the woman's arm, holding onto her as if she were a lifeline.

'Better?' the woman asked her.

'Much better, thank you,' she said. Hermione pulled away so she could look at the stranger properly.

Hermione had never seen her before but in some strange way she was peculiarly familiar. She looked around her mid-thirties, probably the same age as her mum. She had very long, auburn hair and a kind, beautiful face. She was dangerously thin from what Hermione supposed was a lack of food but tall with long legs and surprising soft hands with long gently fingers. She was wearing the most wrecked and torn jeans Hermione had ever seen and a dark green shirt under a black, ragged coat that really brang out the colour of her eyes: bright emerald green.

The women smiled at her. 'What's your name, dear?'

'Hermione,' she said, suddenly feeling a little shy.

'My name is Lily Evans.'

Lily Evans…where had she heard that name before? Hold on! Now she remembered! 'Lily? From Godric Hollow?'

The women looked shocked. 'You know me?' she asked.

'Yes I know your son, Harry.' Hermione was blown away. Harry had told her his mother was dead. Well, everyone thought she was dead! But she was sitting here right in front of her. How was this possible? Hadn't she died over a decade ago?

'Harry!' she exclaimed suddenly, tears welling up in her eyes. 'He's alive?'

'Yes, of course.'

'You've seen him?' Lily beamed at her, weeping openly.

'He's one of my best friends,' Hermione told her, unable to believe what was happening.

'Where is he?' she pleaded her. 'Is he safe?'

'Yes, he is. He's with his aunt and uncle, he stays at their house every summer.' Lily looked like she could leap with joy. Hermione couldn't imagine how she could be so happy when she was locked up in this hell hole. She wanted to be happy for her; but she was still confused as to how this could be possible. Harry's mum was supposed to be dead; murdered. How is she still alive…maybe this was all a dream…maybe she was imagining it.

'My Harry, my baby boy; he's alive.' Lily whispered to herself almost forgetting Hermione was there. 'I thought he was dead. What year is it, Hermione?'

Hermione recoiled at the question. Had Lily been here so long she'd forgotten the year? 'August of nineteen ninety-five,' she told her, 'How long have you been down here?'

For some reason Lily looked quite shocked. 'That means I've been a prisoner for almost fourteen years! I didn't think it had been that long but then again, time seems to go by quickly when you're down here. You can never tell the difference between night and day.'

Hermione gasped. 'Fourteen years! But that means you've been here since the night You-Know-Who attacked you're house!'

'Of course I have. I have been missing all that time.'

'Everyone thinks you were killed that night along with Harry's dad. Wait…is he here too?' Hermione asked her. Could James Potter be alive too?'

'You mean James?' Lily asked her looking a little confused. 'He was killed that night trying to defend me and Harry.'

Hermione was perplexed at how strangely Lily had reacted when she'd mentioned Harry's dad; she'd referred to him as James, not as Harry's father. And the way she talked about him, she spoke with a definite sadness but nothing more than that! Surely she was grieved over her husband's death! 'But what happened? How is it you're alive?'

At first Lily didn't say anything, staring at the floor thinking about what to say. Hermione was reminded of Harry immediately. Lily's son was a lot like her; he always did that when he didn't know what to say. And those eyes where so identical, they were the only thing he'd inherited from her. 'Voldemort came to the house,' she began still looking at the floor, trying hard to concentrate, 'James made me take Harry and go upstairs. Just when I'd gotten up the stairs, Voldemort hit him with a killing curse and he fell to the floor dead. I ran to Harry's room and barricaded the door, holding Harry close to me. I couldn't keep Voldemort out, he blew the door and most of the wall away. I put Harry in his cot and put myself in front of him, trying to shield him. Voldemort told me to step aside, to get out of his way; for some reason he only wanted to kill Harry. I begged him not to kill my baby, to kill me instead but he wouldn't listen. He aimed his wand at me, I was unarmed, and threw an Avada Kedavra at me.' She pulled the front of her shirt down a fraction to show her a large burnt mark over the area where her heart rested. 'That's where it hit me.'

Hermione was still flustered. 'But why didn't it kill you?'

Lily just shrugged. 'I don't know,' she said, 'all I can remember after that is waking up here. I was told that Harry was dead.'

'No, Harry is really alive.'

'But how? How is it that he survived without me to protect him?'

'But you did protect him. I don't know exactly how but Harry has tried to explain to me…somehow your love for him protected him from harm and when Voldemort tried to kill him the spell rebounded on him and killed him, sort of.'

Nothing could describe the look on Lily's face except complete and utter shock. 'Seriously?'

'Yes, it made him famous. I have Muggle parents so I didn't know about magic until I got my letter but one of the first things I ever learnt about the wizarding world was how it had been saved from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by the infant boy Harry Potter. He's literally a celebrity but ever since I met him on the train in our first year I've known he hates it. He didn't know anything about our world until he was eleven either and he hated all the attention; it was strange and frightening for him. He's a great person, he's kind and modest, and very skilled and loyal and so, so brave. I've never met anyone like him before. He, myself and our other friend Ron Weasley have been best friends since we started at Hogwarts. I'm very lucky to be his friend.'

Lily just shook her head; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was all so serial but she wanted to know more about her son. She had missed out on fourteen years of his life, by now he would be fifteen and changing into a young man. She would never be able to see him grow, never see his childhood. She cursed the Death Eaters and Voldemort for doing this to her and keeping her locked away from her Harry. But Harry was alive! All these years she had thought he was dead; but he wasn't! Just that thought filled her with indescribable happiness. But what about Severus…

'And how is Se…how are the rest of the Order?'

'The Order?' Hermione asked her.

'The Order of the Phoenix.'

'I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean.'

She tried to explain desperately, she had to know! 'We were an organisation fighting against Voldemort and his followers during the war. Do you know any of the members?'

'I don't know…

'Is Albus Dumbledore still headmaster at Hogwarts?'

'Yes! He is!'

'Minerva McGonagall?'

'She's still teaching too, she's my head of house.'

'Rubeus Hagrid?'

'He's still there too.'

'My friend Remus Lupin?'

'He came to teach a year or so ago but he had to resign because everyone found out he was a werewolf. He's a good friend of ours.'

'And Harry's godfather, Sirius Black?'

'He's fine but we don't see much of him because he's still in hiding.'

'Hiding? What do you mean?'

'He was blamed for your death. Everyone thought he was the one who betrayed you to You-Know-Who and he was sent to Azkaban for twelve years but he escaped and found Harry and the man that really betrayed you and Harry's dad. He and Harry are really close.'

She looked stunned, Hermione realised this must be hard for her. 'And who really betrayed us?'

'Peter Pettigrew.'

Lily was speechless and hurt. 'Peter…' she sobbed.

'Yes, he was a Death Eater after all. He told Voldemort where you were hiding.'

This was horrible. One of her friends had betrayed her and James to Voldemort. This was too terrible to think about, she couldn't believe Peter would do that.

'What about Alaster Moody?

'As grumpy as ever,' Hermione joked and Lily actually smiled.

'Kingsley?'

'I don't know him. Sorry'

'How about Severus, Severus Snape? Is he alive?'

The girl looked slightly taken aback. 'I was told he used to be a Death Eater…

'That's a lie. He was a spy for the Order,' Lily interrupted suddenly, looking slightly upset.

Hermione looked at her suspiciously, something wasn't right but she didn't know what so she left it for the time being. 'He's fine,' she said and Lily fought to hide a smile of relief 'he's teaching at Hogwarts now.'

Lily couldn't believe it. Harry and Severus where both alive! Her family was alive and alright! This was the best news she could have ever received, almost too good to be true. She had to hide her feelings of joy though; this girl, one of Harry's best friends, still thought James was his father. If she didn't know the truth then no one else would either. But Harry would be fifteen by now, wouldn't he? Had he received her letter? Had Severus gotten his? How would they react? If Severus was teaching at Hogwarts that means they already now each other; she knew Severus would take care of their son. She only wished she could be with them. But there was little chance of that happening. She was stuck here until she died, and so was Hermione probably…Hold on! Why was Hermione here anyway?

'And why are you here, Hermione?'

'The Death Eaters attacked my house two weeks ago. They brang me here; I don't know what's happened to my parents. They've been trying to get information out of me about Harry, Voldemort wants him dead.'

'But I thought Voldemort was dead!'

'Not exactly…he was reincarnated in May.'

Lily shuddered, remember that Halloween fourteen years ago when she had come face to face with the evil man. He wasn't even human; how could he be? That pale face, that evil grin and those terrible red eyes…he was a monster and he was back; and after her Harry again. She just wished she knew why.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Confrontation**

Dumbledore led a miserable Harry back down to Severus' quarters. The headmaster had finally convinced Harry to let go of Hedwig and leave the Owlery. The poor boy hadn't said a word the whole way down, letting himself be silently led away. There was no doubt in Dumbledore's mind that Harry blamed himself for the owl's death and he was probably silently punishing himself for it right now.

The headmaster whispered the password to the painting and it swung away to let them in. 'Are you going to be ok?' he asked the boy before going in. The boy looked at his solemnly, gave him a shaky smile and then they went inside. Harry could hear Severus and Malfoy talking between themselves but he kept his head down and walked on into his room, ignoring his father when he called to him.

Severus looked at Dumbledore questioningly. 'What took you so long? What's wrong with _Sam?_'

Dumbledore caught on quickly, glancing quickly at Draco Malfoy still seated at the table. '_Sam's_ owl has been killed; we found her lying on the ground in the Owlery. She had been attacked, Severus.'

Severus got up immediately and started towards Harry's room. 'He's upset?'

'Yes, I'm worried about him. Why don't you go to him while I speak with Mr Malfoy here?'

'I will.' Severus knocked on the door but got no answer. He went in anyway, making sure to close the door behind him quietly.

He found Harry sitting on his bed with his back leaned up against the wall and starring across the room silently. He approached his son slowly, still thinking of what to do. He wasn't very good at comforting people, but he was going to have to try his best. He was going to have to learn how to do a lot of new things if he was going to be the best father he could be to Harry. Hesitantly he sat down on the bed and when the boy didn't object leaned himself up against the wall beside him.

'What happened?' he asked his son gently.

Harry sighed woefully. 'She was dead before I got to her. Her wing was broken; there was blood everywhere. This was attached to her claw.' He held a piece of parchment in his hand and gave it to him, still not removing his eyes from the wall. Severus read what was written on the letter and immediately understood why Harry was upset. Death Eaters had attacked Hedwig.

Harry had been very fond of that owl, she had been his companion; his only friend at the Dursleys. Severus could see he was deeply distressed by the whole event though he was trying to hide it. He had to take his mind off it; cheer him up. He looked at the boy purposely and then over at the wall and back at Harry again.

Harry looked at him sceptically. 'What are you doing?' he demanded.

'Trying to figure out what's so interesting about the wall,' he said. Harry started laughing but the laughs immediately turned into dry sobs and he buried his face in his hands.

'Shh…what's wrong?' he asked instantly wrapping his arm around his son.

Harry mumbled into his sleeve and Severus only just managed to hear what he was saying. 'It's my fault.'

'What…no it's not! Why would you think that?'

'It's alway's my fault,' Harry sobbed shakily, 'they're all gone because of me. Hedwig, Mum, Cedric, Sam…'

'Who's Sam?' Severus asked him but he didn't get an answer, just muffled sob. 'Harry, listen to me. You had nothing to do with their deaths; you had nothing to do with your mother's death. You hear me? It's not your fault. And don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise. You understand me?'

Harry nodded miserable and Severus was surprised when Harry embraced him back, crying on his shirt and holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping him anchored to this world. Even more surprising was how Severus didn't seem to mind either, he actually liked it. It didn't even feel awkward holding Harry anymore, it sort of felt right in a way; like this was the way it was supposed to be. He put his other arm around the boy pulling him into a proper hug. He could feel Harry's heartbeat against him; it was so fast and his chest was raising and falling shakily, trying to stop himself from crying.

'Shh, it's ok Harry. It's ok,' he whispered into the boy's ear. He patted the boys back comfortingly, resting his chin on his head. It hurt him to see Harry so upset and he was reminded of what Arthur had told him back at The Burrow. He had to help Harry with his problem, had to be there for him and nothing could distract him. He was really going to go through with this; he was going to be a father to his son, no matter what happened.

Harry's breathing slowed down and the tears stopped coming. He felt the boy relax against him and he held him closer, letting him know he was there for him. 'Better?'

Harry nodded tiredly, still keeping his face hidden. 'Thank you, sir.'

Severus frowned slightly. 'You know, you don't have to call me that.'

Harry lifted his head instantly to look at him. Severus almost smiled when he saw the surprised look on his face. 'Really?' Harry asked him disbelievingly.

'Well, you know, if you don't feel comfortable with it…

'N-no, not at all…but…what do I call you then?'

'I don't know, it depends. But it just feels weird when you call me 'sir' now.'

'I guess that's fair,' Harry agreed, 'I mean, you've been putting in the effort to call me 'Harry' lately and I know that's been really hard to adjust to…but…'

'But what?'

Harry hesitated for a second, scared what he would say would upset his father. 'I wouldn't mind calling you something else, but this is all happening so fast. I sort of trust you now, I really do, though I don't feel ready to address you as something like 'dad'. That's a little too… extreme for me.'

'I understand, really,' he added when Harry looked doubtfully at him, 'calling you 'Harry' is easy enough for me but I still can't really look at you as 'son' for example. I don't think we're quite there yet.' Harry nodded agreeably and he continued. 'I think for now we should maybe just stick with first names.'

'Sure, s…Severus,' Harry said. _Wow that felt awkward…I'll get used to it._ It felt good having someone like his father, someone who could be there whenever he needed him. He was amazed at how much of an effort his father was putting into making this work and being there for him. This man really wanted to help him, and Harry wanted him to too. Though he still felt slightly uncomfortable around his father, he hoped in time he'd be able to open up to him and talk to him about anything. _Like what happened to my friend Sam…_

Suddenly there was another knock at the door and they pulled apart immediately but Severus still held his arm around Harry supportively. It was Dumbledore. 'Severus? Is everything alright?'

'Yes, Albus. Everything is fine,' Severus called out and the headmaster came in with Malfoy closely behind him.

'Good,' he said, conjuring up a chair and sitting down, 'we have an important issue to discuss.'

Malfoy took the seat at the desk, looking jealously at Harry who still had Snape's arm around him. He had always wished that Snape was his father and not Lucius. Snape was the only one that really cared about him and he had been hoping that the potions master would take him in if he came here. But now he'd found out that Snape had a son already and his wishes had all evaporated into nothing. It just wasn't fair. _This Sam bloke doesn't know how lucky he is._

'I have just talked with Mr Malfoy here and we have reached an agreement. He has important information for us and in return the Order will keep him safe here from his family and other Death Eaters.'

'If Draco wishes it, he may stay here with me and Sam,' Severus offered and Harry nodded hesitantly in agreement, deciding to discuss this with his father later.

'Thank you both,' smiled Dumbledore looking to Malfoy, 'I'm sure young Draco would appreciate that very much.' Malfoy nodded simply.

'What is this 'important' information Malfoy has for us, professor?' Sam asked suddenly and Draco was left wondering where he had heard that tone before.

'According to Mr Malfoy here, there is a vast series of dungeons situated below the Malfoy Manor where over a hundred prisoners and hostages are being kept. Mr Malfoy believes that some of these people may have been kept there since the time of the last war, even after Voldemort's temporary fall from power. The entrance to the dungeons has never been found during a Ministry inspection and Draco doesn't know where it is either but he's heard enough from eavesdropping on his father to get the information we need…

'But why hasn't he come forward until now? Why hasn't he said anything?' Harry interrupted angrily. 'People could be dying down there!'

'My father made me swear to secrecy, I was forbidden to say anything to anyone,' Draco retorted, just about fed up with Sam and his attitude.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' said Harry sarcastically, 'I forgot a hundred people's lives don't matter as long as dear daddy doesn't give precious Draco a slap on the wrist!'

'Will the two of you please settle down,' Dumbledore asked calmly, 'there is no need for this.' But both boys completely ignored him.

Draco shot up angrily, knocking his chair backwards. 'Stop blabbing like you know everything! You don't know anything about me!'

Harry stood up to challenge him. 'One wouldn't have to know a lot about you to realise what a selfish, illiberal brat you are!'

'Draco, Harry, stop this right now!' Severus snapped at them standing up and separating Harry and Draco before they could launch themselves at each other. Everyone in the room fell silent. Severus was horrified at what he'd said; he had let slip Harry's name!

'What!' Draco gasped. 'What did you call him?'

'Nothing,' Severus replied feebly.

'You called him 'Harry', why did you call him that?' Malfoy demanded furiously.

Severus sighed frustratingly, looking to Dumbledore as to what to do. The old wizard just shrugged, 'He's going to find out sooner or later, Severus.'

'Find out what?' Draco shouted.

Harry had an urge to hit him but he stayed by his father's side instead, looking up at him apologetically. Severus placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, silently telling him it was alright and then turned to Draco. Harry knew he was about to tell him about them, all he could do was brace himself for the explosion.

'Draco, please sit down. We will tell you everything.' Draco picked up his chair and sat down slowly. Severus and Harry also sat back down on the bed together and Draco glared at them in what Harry realised was jealousy. Why would Malfoy be jealous of him? 'Draco, my son's name is not Samuel Snape, we made that up to hide his real identity…his real name…is Harry Potter.'

Draco was so surprised he almost choked. Surely he had misheard what his professor had just said. He thought he'd heard him say Harry Potter was his son! 'Excuse me?'

'My son,' repeated Severus, putting an arm around the boy proudly, 'Harry Potter.'

Draco looked to the other teenager suspiciously. It was true the boy looked a little like Potter but there was no way they were the same person. 'Hello, Ferretboy,' the boy smirked at him and Draco jumped. The voice! It was Potter's! Harry Potter! But how was this possible? Potter Snape's son…that was absolutely crazy! And why was he so different?

'Draco, we don't need to talk about how this is possible or why Harry's appearance has changed so dramatically. All you need to know is that Harry really is my son and soon everyone will know that but until term starts we have to keep this very quiet. We are trusting you with this secret and if you still want the protection from the Order you will keep it!'

'This is utter rubbish! I believe that this guy is your son but I can't believe that he is Harry Potter until he proves it to me.'

'Malfoy,' Harry addressed him suddenly and everyone turned to stare at him, 'ask me any question. Something only Harry Potter would know and I'll answer it.'

Malfoy thought hard for a moment and then spoke confidently, obviously thinking Harry wouldn't be able to answer. 'Ok _'Harry'_, in our first year when we got detention together in the Forbidden Forest and we found the clearing with the dead unicorn, what kind of trees were surrounding the clearing?'

'They were ancient oaks,' replied Harry simply and Draco's mouth dropped open in bewilderment.

'Anyways, moving on,' Dumbledore interrupted, 'while Mr Malfoy was still at the Manor he overheard his father and aunt speaking and he discovered a new captive had been brought in two weeks ago and was been held there for questioning about you, Harry.'

'Who?' he demanded, fearing the worst.

Dumbledore glanced at him sadly. 'Ms Hermione Granger, Harry.'

Harry could have sworn his heart stopped beating as an icy knife of fear pierced into his chest. This is what he had feared would happen, they had taken one of his friend's hostage. Dear Hermione, who was like his sister. This was why he hadn't heard from her for so long. He shivered at the thought of what was happening to her; she had been a hostage for two weeks now! Why had no one noticed she was gone? 'How could this happen?' he asked angrily.

'I sent people to the Granger house, the place is empty and there are signs everywhere that the place was attacked. Her father was found dead in the house and it is also believed that her mother perished as well but we couldn't find any sign of her anywhere though there was no indication she had been killed. She is almost certainly at the Manor and alive.'

'And what is being done about it?' Harry yelled.

'The Order is working on a plan to raid the estate, there are many dangerous Death Eaters situated there. Our goal is to get all the prisoners out of there alive but we don't want any risks taken. It may be weeks before we can make an attempt on Malfoy Manor.'

'But Hermione may not be able to hold on till then if she's being tortured!'

'I'm sorry, Harry. But that is the best we can do for now.'

'And how can I help?'

'You can't Harry. You must stay here where you're safe…

'One of my best friends is being held captive by Death Eaters! She's there because of me and you expect me to just sit here and do nothing!'

Severus tried to calm him down, 'Harry… But he wouldn't listen.

'Excuse me. I need to be alone,' he snapped and then left the room, slamming the door behind him.

'Fizzlesticks!' The gargoyle leapt aside to allow Severus to run hurriedly up the staircase to the headmaster's office. He ran into the office not bothering to knock on the door before entering and not caring if he was interrupting anything Dumbledore might be doing. The door slammed shut behind him and Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall spun around at the intrusion. Dumbledore didn't have to be told by Severus to realise something was wrong.

'Severus, what has happened?'

'Have either of you seen Harry?' he panted, stopping a moment to catch his breath. 'I've been looking everywhere for him.'

'Last time I saw him was when he stormed out of your quarters this morning. Has he not returned yet?'

'No, and I can't find him anywhere.'

McGonagall looked worried at Dumbledore. 'You don't think he's left the grounds, do you Albus?'

'Harry knows how dangerous it is for him to stray off the premises. You have to give him more credit then that. Besides I would know if Harry had left the grounds, he is still somewhere on campus. That we can be sure of!'

'But that doesn't mean he hasn't gotten himself into trouble. He could have headed off into the forest or…or jumped off the Astronomy Tower for all we know!'

'Severus, please calm down and have a seat,' Dumbledore sighed patiently, indicating the younger man to a seat. Severus took it reluctantly. They should be searching for Harry not sitting around. But he had looked everywhere in the castle already; twice and he still hadn't found his son. The boy had been missing for hours now, who knows how much mischief he could have gotten up in that amount of time.

'You must not stress yourself,' Dumbledore told him, 'Harry is probably fine and is going to laugh at how worked up you got about this. I have a quick and simple solution to our little dilemma, Fawkes will be able to find young Harry faster then the three of us put together.'

'How can he do that, Albus?' McGonagall asked from the back of the room.

Dumbledore explained. 'Harry's wand contains a phoenix feather; from Fawkes. Fawkes has only ever given one other feather to another wand, Voldemort's, so the relationship is strong, Minerva, and as long as Harry has his wand with him Fawkes should be able to sense where he is.'

'I didn't know that…' Minerva admitted.

Severus interrupted her before she could go on. 'So Fawkes will be able to find Harry?'

'Yes, as long as he has his wand with him, which I'm almost completely sure he does. I know for a fact that he goes everywhere with it,' confirmed Dumbledore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Son**

Harry loved the Black Lake in the summer. Everything about it and it's surroundings was so warm and calm and peaceful. If he could ever be truly at peace anywhere, it would be here. He could sit here all day just thinking and watching it's glassy surface. He was sitting down on some smooth rocks right up to the water edge. He watched contently as the birds flew overhead and the evening slowly passed by, trying in vain to think of something besides Hermione. It took all of his will power not to race off to Malfoy Manor and attempt to rescue her. He knew it wouldn't go down too well with the professors and especially his father if he ran off like that. They were probably be stressing out; searching for him frantically as he sat there but he didn't care. It served them right for being so unorganised.

_That's not fair. It's not their fault._

_I know._

He was just frustrated. If something happened to Hermione he would never, never forgive himself…and her parents were already dead. She was an orphan now, just like him…no wait! He wasn't an orphan anymore, he had a father. He would need time to get used to that idea.

He heard the beat of giant wings coming towards him. Smiling, he was surprised to see Fawkes the phoenix flying over the treetops, his gold and scarlet plumage glistening in the sun, and land gently on the rocks beside him. Harry immediately stroked his feathers affectionately, wondering how the bird had found him. This phoenix was an amazing creature; Harry liked Fawkes a lot and always enjoyed his silent and comforting company. Fawkes cooed softly, staring at him lovingly. He was so distracted by the creature's appearance that he didn't hear Severus come through the trees behind him.

_Harry!_ Severus spotted the boy sitting on the rocks alongside the lake, the phoenix beside him and he immediately sighed out loud with relief. His son hadn't noticed him yet, he was completely distracted by the phoenix.

'Harry…'

His son spun round where he sat, alarmed by the disturbance. He eased again when he saw Severus, Fawkes took off at once heading back to the castle, leaving them alone together. Harry stared at him sceptically waiting for him to say something. He wasn't sure what to do, part of him wanted to yell at him for making him so worried, but he knew that would be the worst thing to do so he just closed the distance between them and sat down. He joined Harry in gazing across the lake, glancing at his son he was amazed at how at peace he seemed to be.

'I've been looking for you everywhere…' he began.

'How did you find me?' the boy demanded not averting his gaze.

'If it wasn't for Fawkes I would have never even bothered to look here. I've been searching for hours.'

Harry smirked. 'Well good, I wasn't really in the mood for company.'

Severus frowned. 'How about now?'

The boy shrugged lazily. 'I wouldn't mind some right now.'

'I was scared you'd run off to Malfoy Manor.'

'I wanted to, but you wouldn't like that, would you?'

'Absolutely not…I don't want you putting yourself in any danger, I need you to stay here where you are safe…

Suddenly Harry's temper got the better of him and he shot up furiously. 'BUT I WANT TO HELP! I HAVE TO! HERMIONE IS MY FRIEND AND SHE COULD BE KILLED AT ANY MOMENT! SHE'S THERE BECAUSE OF ME! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!'

'There is nothing you can do for Ms Granger!' said Severus, standing up too. 'If you go to the Manor you will be killed!'

'YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I CAN'T LOSE HER! I COULDN'T BARE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF SOMEONE ELSE I CARE ABOUT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA, NO IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE!'

Severus gave him an icy stare. 'I know exactly how it feels. I lost my wife because of my ignorance and stupidity; and because of that I wasn't there for her when she needed me more than ever.' His gazed softened slightly as he drew closer. 'I can't let you go, Harry…not because I don't trust you to…but because I couldn't bear to lose you as well. I would never forgive myself. I need you Harry, you're all I have left.'

After a while Harry gave up and lowered his challenged gaze, looking ashamed of himself. 'I'm sorry, sir.'

'I thought we just discussed you wouldn't call me that from now on,' his father retorted.

Harry grinned at him. 'I think I'm still getting used to it.'

Severus sighed and looked out to the lake again. 'I hope in time things will get easier between us,' he whispered sadly.

He felt uncomfortable just standing there but didn't want to get too close to the other man so he just stayed where he was. He didn't want to disturb his father's thoughts when he was clearly upset about something. _This is going to be really hard. _They trusted each other in a way, and that in itself was incredible but the feeling between them was still mutual. Harry glanced awkwardly at the man he was putting so much trust and faith in and risking so much to start a family with. He hardly knew anything about this man; besides that he was his father. How could they be a family if they knew nothing about each other? Severus had been trying to get him to open up more, but Harry needed him to open up to him as well. Harry had to draw him out, had to talk to him more willingly.

_I can't believe I'm doing this. I've never talked to anyone about this before. Not even Ron and Hermione…_

'I hate how everyone in the wizarding world thinks about me,' he said trying to sound casual, Severus turned to look at him, 'how they always praise me and tell me that I'm such a good, special, amazing boy; when I'm not.'

'But you are those things Harry…

'No, I'm not. I'm the last person in the world who should be described that way. If any of them knew…the things I've done…

Severus started to look worried. 'What are you talking about?'

'Sam…he was my best friend before Hogwarts…my only friend. I met him when I was nine, he and his family had just moved to Surrey from Australia. He didn't think I was a freak like everyone else, he said I was talented instead.' Harry smiled. 'He used to say, 'Don't let them get you down Harry, they're just jealous of your 'abilities'; anyone would love to set Ms Cripp's hair on fire like you did'. 'Abilities' that what he called my magic, I don't think he understood it any better then the others… he was just better at excepting it and he quite enjoyed it too. He always knew what to say to make me feel better. Ron sort of reminds me of him, I guess that's why I latched onto him so quickly. I need people like him around me.'

Harry paused to catch his breath. Severus wondered why his son was telling him this but he remained silent anyway almost certain this was leading up to something important.

'Sam was always there for me, he was the only one who knew about what was happening between me and my uncle. One day Uncle Vernon lashed out at me and hit me across the back with his cane, I got so scared I ran out of the house. Sam lived just down the road and he must have seen me leave because he followed me; I didn't noticed him at the time. I crawled into an alleyway, I was bleeding all down my back, it was raining hard and I couldn't hear anything except the downpour. Sam saw me in the corner and came up behind me, shouting to me. I got scared…I wasn't thinking properly…I thought he was my uncle. I remember yelling out and then Sam suddenly shot back away from me. He flew through the air as if he'd been fired out of a canon and then crashed down onto the road…' He took in a ridged breath. 'He was dead before I could get to him.'

Severus was shocked. Not knowing how to respond to this he placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. 'Why are you telling me this?'

'I don't know…so you can understand me better I guess,' Harry murmured, turning his water gaze to the ground again. 'I'm not used to a lot of things that been happening in the last two day. I think I'm a little afraid of getting too close to anyone; ever since that day I've always been scared I'll hurt another person I love.' A single tear fell from his watery eyes which failed to overflow. 'I killed him, Severus, I lashed out without thinking about the consequences of my actions. When I heard him come up behind me and I though he was my uncle, I wanted to kill him; to make him feel my pain…and I knew how to do it, so I did.'

An unpleasant pause.

'And that doesn't make me any better the man I'm so well known for vanquishing in the first place… I'm just like him…

'No!' Severus exclaimed, steering Harry around so he could look him directly in the eye. 'You are nothing like him. If your uncle hadn't handled you in such a manner you wouldn't have had to feel the urge to protect yourself to start with. You were only a child, you couldn't be expected to know any better. And Voldemort, he likes killing people, he enjoys causing pain but you don't and that makes you a much better person then him. You are not a bad person, Harry! You are a very good person…whom bad things have happened to.'

'But I wanted to…

'And you've been beating yourself up about it ever since, Voldemort has never felt any remorse for anyone or anything. I know it's terrible Harry, I really do, but you have to let him go.'

Harry nodded miserably. 'When does the pain start to go away?'

'Never,' Severus told him honestly, 'but in time it starts to lessen considerably…and I promise you it going to get easier and easier from now on.'

His son brightened up immediately. 'Thank you, Severus.'

Later they strolled back up to the castle, arm in arm. They took their time, enjoying the lovely evening and each other's presence.

It was amazing how quiet the castle could be when there was no one else around and it was just him all by himself. It made him slightly uneasy that the professor had been gone so long, looking for bloody damned Potter, but he was also glad to be left alone for a while. Snape had transfigured up a room for him a few hours ago across from Potter's room before leaving on an errand to go find the blasted boy. He was still getting used to the fact that Snape was Harry effing Potter's father. This indeed had been something he hadn't been expecting and now he was stuck here with Potter until school started…unless he wanted to go back to the Manor which he really didn't. He was just going to have to stick it out and put up with it. But still…it was Potter!

He heard the portrait swing open and Snape enter…with Potter. _Did he really have to find him? _Not wanting to go join them he lay face up on his bed staring at the ceiling. It was all so unfair, even darn Potter had someone now, but not him. He had no one.

'I think you should have an early night, you look like you could use some rest,' he heard Snape say, as he and Potter came down the hallway.

'Speak for yourself! You haven't slept since yesterday, remember?' said Potter.

'I've been too busy looking after you…who would have ever thought parenting could be so tiring?' They both laughed. Draco scowled in disgust. 'I'm sure you'll get used to it,' laughed Potter, 'I'm not that much of a hassle, am I?'

'Well I did spend all afternoon running around the castle like a madman looking for you.'

'Yeh, sorry about that…where's Malfoy?'

'Mr Malfoy is in his room, I think he might already be sleeping.'

'I didn't see that room before…

'I conjured it up for him. I didn't think you two would like sharing a room very much.'

'You're probably right, that could turn quite ugly.' A door was opened. 'Severus, why does he need protection from his family? Has something happened?'

'I don't think you should worry about that, Harry, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't pester him about it. You of all people should know what it's like not wanting others prying into your personal life.'

'I understand,' Potter whispered, 'Goodnight, Severus.'

'Goodnight, Harry.' Potter's door closed and Snape went off into his own room and everything fell quiet again.

'…and then in our fourth year he was swindled into the Triwizard Tournament. No one knew how his name had gotten into the Goblet of Fire but he was forced to compete against these kids three years older than him. He got through alright, actually he did great; by the time they got to the third task he was drawing in first place with the other Hogwarts competitor, Cedric Diggory. They had to go through this gigantic maze and Harry and Cedric reached the cup at the same time and took it together but everything went really wrong after that. Someone had turned the cup into a portkey, it took them to a graveyard where Wormtail and Voldemort were waiting for them. Cedric was killed and then Wormtail took Harry and Voldemort was resurrected.'

'How?' Lily asked her curiously, unable to say more then that and absolutely blown away by what Hermione was telling her.

'I don't know the details…but Harry escaped after duelling with him and he brang Cedric's body back with him. Like I said that was in May, it was terrible.'

'Poor Harry,' Lily whispered.

'He's a strong person, he's coping alright.'

'Hmm.' They leaned side by side on the grimy wall, chewing on some stale bread that had just been brought in. Lily gave most of it to Hermione, she looked like she hadn't eaten for weeks and she could go without a lot of food for a long time anyway.

She sighed sadly. 'This isn't what I wanted.'

'What?'

'All I ever wanted for him was to have a normal life.'

'I didn't know there was anything normal about the wizarding world,' Hermione joked. They laughed.

'I guess you have a point there,' Lily agreed.

Hermione glanced down curiously at the locket on the other women's chest. 'Where did you get that by the way?'

Lily fingered the golden chain fondly. 'Se…my husband gave it to me. He said it was to keep me safe. He has one just like it.'

'It shines a bright light, kind of like a torch in a way. I think it's quite interesting. Most lockets have photos in them don't they.'

'The light in the locket comes from crystals formed in the Durmforest in Kent,' Lily explained, opening the locket for Hermione to look inside. Once getting used to the brightness Hermione could see the inside was filled with tiny shining stones encrusted on the golden surface. They looked like diamonds only more beautiful and the shone so brilliantly it was hard to believe they had come from this earth.

'They're called Starkspites, they used to grow only once every ten years and you could never tell when they would bloom. They became pretty much extinct seventeen years ago when they stopped growing, I don't know how Se…Harry's father ever managed to afford it.' Hermione watched Lily smile down at it fondly, somewhere in the past. 'However, if it's a picture you want,' she continued, closing the locket and turning it over, 'you open it this way.'

To Hermione's amazement the locket opened the opposite way too, to show another opening but there was only a mirror there, no picture.

'But it's just a mirror…' Hermione started, feeling confused.

'The picture varies from person to person,' Lily smiled at her, 'you see...it shows you who you love most in the whole world.'

Hermione gasped. 'Oh Lily…are you telling the truth?'

'Every word, Dearie.'

'And who do you see?' Hermione asked her, hoping she wasn't getting too personal.

Lily hesitated a moment for some reason before she said, 'My husband, holding little Harry.' Then she asked, 'Do you want to try?'

'Yes, please,' Hermione beamed at her.

Lily slowly took off the locket and handed it carefully to her. Hermione looked into the mirror, at first seeing nothing but her own reflection staring at her but then two figures started appearing out of nowhere in front of her. She smiled down at them fondly, she'd known who would appear in the mirror from the start but it was still wonderful, almost overwhelming to see them grinning and waving at her. Ron, with his shocking hair, freckles and goofy Weasley grin and Harry with his black hair, glasses and one of his rare happy smiles. She loved those two buffoons so much, the possibility of never seeing them again was unbearable.

Suddenly the bolted door rumbled open startling both of them. Three masked Death Eaters came in, two of them carrying heavy green lanterns. One of them pointed their wand at Lily who remained where she was obediently but still glared at them threateningly. Hermione admired her courage. The one not carrying a lantern came straight at her and pulled her roughly to her feet, squeezing her forearm painfully. He lead her roughly out the dungeon, the others following after him.

'Don't you put a finger on her, you scumbags?' Lily yelled after them. The Death Eater in the back turned around and threw a Cruciatus at her angrily. The women thrashed against the wall in pain, refusing to cry out; her Gryffindor pride showing through.

'Shut up, you disgusting mudblood! The only reason you're not dead yet is because the Dark Lord wants you alive but one more remark like that and I'll deal with you myself.'

The dungeon door slammed shut after them, the Death Eater pushed Hermione back up the stairs she had come down only yesterday. 'Where are you taking me now?' she growled at them, trying not to sound scared.

'Back up for interrogation,' the Death Eater taunted in her ear. 'Let's see how you stand up against Mistress Lestrange.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Nightmare**

_Duelling Voldemort…he's too good…don't stand a chance…the Cruciatus…pain all over …burning…please…please let me die…Voldemort laughing…Death Eaters laughing…all alone… no hope…done for…want to beg for death…beg Voldemort to kill me…the pain is too much…_

_Vision Changes_

_Hermione…crying…no, screaming…she's in pain…she's calling to me…I'm trying to help her…but I can't reach her…a women…evil…she's using the Cruciatus on Hermione…she's torturing her…_

_need to help her…but something's holding me back…vision going fuzzy…Hermione…no, wait…_

Harry sat bolt up right. He hastily bit into his knuckles to stop himself from crying out, squeezing his eyes shut to stop the tears flowing. Had it just been a dream? He didn't think so, this had been different; he had felt it whenever the Cruciatus had been cast on him and Hermione. His body was still burning and he could still hear Hermione's screams in his ear, all he wanted was to yell out but he couldn't wake the others. Gasping, he rolled under the covers and slummed face down onto the floor too drained to stop himself from falling. Holding back tears, he pushed himself upright leaning on the mattress for support.

This was terrible; he felt awful. He needed Severus…but he didn't want to wake Malfoy. How was he going to get to Severus' room without alarming the Slytherin? He could barely walk.

He could go by the veranda!

He half-crawled to the sliding door, eased it open and slipped clumsily outside. It was freezing; a fierce wind whipped at his clothes and sent goose bumps along his skin. It was so dark he couldn't see out past the veranda, the lake was completely out of sight. He moved over to Severus' door and was relieved to find it wasn't locked as he'd feared it would be. He quietly pushed the door aside and quickly shut it back behind him, scared the wind would wake his father.

He could hear Severus sleeping but the room was as dark as outside. He was starting to regret coming in here, he wasn't sure he wanted to bother Severus anymore…but everything hurt so much. He needed help, Severus would get angry with him if he found out he'd been in trouble and he hadn't come to him. 'Severus?' he gasped, surprised at how much energy it took him to speak. The short trip from his room to here had exhausted him.

The figure on the bed stirred. 'Harry?' it asked, sitting up immediately.

Harry tried to answer him but he couldn't breath in the air he needed to communicate. He was scared he was going to pass out. 'Harry?' his father said again, a dim lamp went on by the bed. He saw the boy on the floor by the sliding door gasping for breath and as white as a sheet. 'Harry!'

He was at Harry's side straight away. He put a hand to the boy's forehead; he had a temperature. He was so pale he could have been a ghost but he was dark beneath the eyes and sweat was forming on his head which somehow managed to make his hair stick up more than ever. He was breathing heavily as if he'd just run a marathon. The boy gave him a goofy smile, retaining tears in his eyes. 'I couldn't sleep,' he puffed.

'What happened?' Severus demanded.

Harry slung his head back staring upward, trying to catch his breath. Why was this happening to him? It had never been this bad before. Knowing he wasn't going to get answers any time soon, Severus gently picked him up under the back and the knees and carried him over to his bed. He carefully lowered his son onto the mattress, noticing the boy had passed out. Severus placed a hand on his neck; his pulse was too fast. What was wrong with him? He couldn't do anything if he didn't know what was wrong.

'Harry, wake up! Wake up!' he said, shaking him slightly. His son's eyes fluttered open, peering at him weakly. 'You need to tell me what's wrong, Harry.'

'Dream,' Harry croaked feebly, 'had a…dream.'

'You had a dream? About what?'

'Hermione…being tortured…Cruciatus…'

'Then what?'

'Woke up…body burning…can't…breath…'

'Ok, ok. I'll get you something, stay here.'

'Don't go…' Harry grabbed onto one of his arms, looking up at him pleadingly. Severus felt something snap in his chest when he looked into those green eyes, so filled with pain. He couldn't stand to see them like that.

'I need to go get some potions to make you feel better,' he whispered to him gently, 'I won't be long.'

Harry hesitated. Severus knew that he could just wrench his arm out of the boy's grasp in one swift movement and Harry wouldn't be able to stop him leaving but he had to be gentle with him; be patient. He didn't want to upset him in his fragile state. 'Promise?'

'Promise,' Severus assured him. Harry slowly let go and he rushed out the room. He came back five minutes later with four small vials in his hands. He set them down on the bedside table and returned to Harry's side, the boy was barely conscious. He looked like he was about to have a stroke. Severus helped him sit up and placed pillows behind his back to make him more comfortable. Severus grabbed the first vial, uncorked it and held it up to Harry's mouth.

'What's that?' his son grunted.

'Calming Draught,' Severus explained, 'it will help with your breathing.'

The boy downed it all in one. Immediately his heartbeat slowed and his breathing became less laboured. He got another two from the table and forced them down Harry's throat too; one to fix his fever and the other to numb the burning pains. Another ten minutes past and Harry started to look much better and Severus relaxed. The boy lay back, his eyes closed contently; resting his palms on his weak chest.

'Better?' he asked him.

Harry nodded lubberly. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' said Severus firmly, 'if anything like this ever happens then I want to be the first one to know about it. I'm glad you came to me. You scared me for a second there…'

'This has never happened before, my dreams have never been this violent.'

'I don't think you should be having these dreams at all. Something will have to be done about them.'

Harry nodded again. 'No arguing there.'

He tried sitting up but fell back onto the pillows. Severus put an arm around him and helped him up so he sat on the edge of the bed with him. He held out the last vial for him and the boy took it curiously. 'What else have you got cooked up for me?' he teased.

'That's a Dreamless Sleep potion; it will help you sleep. Take it now.'

Harry uncorked and swallowed it obediently, pulling a sour face. 'It tastes horrible,' he said.

'Yes, but it works like a charm,' he said, but Harry was already falling asleep. He caught him before he fell forward onto the floor and lay him gently back on the bed, pulling the sheet over him and rearranging the pillows so they were in a more comfortable position. He stood back admiring his handy work and then went to the other side of the bed and lay back without pulling the covers over himself. With a wave of his hand the lamp went out and they were engulfed in darkness again.

_This is unbelievable…the boy has softened me up already!_

He was exhausted; he hadn't gotten any sleep at all these past two days. He was so glad school wasn't going to start for another four weeks; otherwise he'd be in real trouble. He glanced over blindly to the figure beside him; he could hear the boy's breathing; his small heart beating rhythmically in his chest. He was such a miracle; he was so special to him already it was insane. Even though Harry was such a handful to look after, just seeing him lay there peacefully made it all worthwhile. He would do anything to make sure Harry could look that happy all the time, not just small moments like this. He would protect his son with his life and deal with anyone personally who dared to even think about standing in his way.

His thoughts strayed again to Lily, wondering what she would say if she could see him now. Would she be glad? Would she be happy he was looking after Harry, their son? He hoped so. He missed her so much. He wished he could go back in time and change everything so that he hadn't gone on that stupid errand. If he hadn't he wouldn't have been injured and forced into hiding, Lily wouldn't have thought he was dead and been forced to marry James, he would have known he was a father, Lily wouldn't be dead, the three of them could have been a family and he could have watched his son grow up into the young man he was now. But he had missed all of that. And now it was time to make up for it. Now was the time to make the best of what he and Harry had.

Harry rolled over closer to him still sleeping, hugging him and resting his head tenderly on Severus' chest. Severus let him stay that way, besides…he didn't mind that much. _Yep, I've turned into a huge softy for sure! I'm a goner! What is to become of me now?_

He grinned as he imagined the looks on Dumbledore, McGonagall and the rest of the staff's faces if they could see him now. But he didn't care what any of them thought now, they didn't matter. All he cared about was the small boy nuzzled up warmly beside him. His son, Harry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Locket**

Fred, George and Ginny Weasley crept slyly up to Ron's room, with what appeared to be water balloons in their hands and mischievous grins on their faces. Leading the way, Fred jumped the last three steps and pressed his ear to the door. Not a sound could be heard on the other side. It meant Ron and Harry were still in bed; unprepared and unarmed. Easy prey.

'What's the condition, Lady's Man?' George asked him, lowering his voice to whisper.

'All clear, Bootlicker. Targets and Freckleface are sound asleep.'

'I told you, my codenames 'Captain Awesome'!'

'Bootlicker suits you better,' teased Fred.

'Oh yeah? Well what kind of name is 'Lady's Man'?'

'A way better one than Captain Awesome!'

'No it's not!'

'Yes it is!'

'No, it…

Ginny set down her handful of balloons impatiently and whacked them both over the head and pressed her finger over her lips when both of them were going to retaliate. 'If you keep this up you'll wake up The Target and Freckleface.' she hissed at them.

'Oh shut up, Hothead! Nothing could wake Freckleface anyway, he could sleep through a storm.'

'Ok, Operation Bomb Blast is in action. Turn the doorknob, Captain Awesome…slowly.'

George twisted the knob and then with a nod from the other two pushed it gently forward. Squatting low, he crept into the room and Fred and Ginny were about to follow him in when he reappeared in the door. 'They're not there!' he said, nothing but shock on his face.

'What?' shouted the other two. 'But how's that possible?' Fred went on. 'We didn't hear them come down and besides…it's six in the morning.'

George shook his head. 'I don't know…'

'They must be downstairs,' piped Ginny, 'where else could they be?'

'Well, there goes our plan,' Fred sighed sadly, 'I guess we'll just have to wish Harry a happy birthday without covering him in putrid slim.'

'Such a shame,' groaned George.

'Well, we better go down to the kitchen then,' said Ginny, breaking the silence. She got up, hide her balloons in a corner and set off down the stairs. She looked back to the twins questioningly, neither of them had moved. 'You two coming?'

'Nah, I'm tired. I'm going back to bed.'

'I'm gonna head in too; it's too early.'

'Whatever,' shrugged Ginny, not really caring what the other two did. She descended the stairs and went into the living room. She could hear voices in the kitchen as she went over to the sofa and retrieved her sweater from were she left it last night and put it on. It was very early and it was always a little chilly this time of day. Her Mum always had a go at her if she didn't look after herself properly so she went along with it just to avoid the nagging, besides, Harry had told her one evening that she looked good in this particular sweater.

She headed into the kitchen but stopped herself when she stepped on something on the carpet and heard glass breaking. She bent down grumpily and picked up what she was surprised to find were Harry's glasses. One end was all crumbled and crooked where she'd trodden on it and the lenses had broken out and shattered. She felt slightly annoyed at Harry for a second; she was lucky she hadn't cut open her foot.

_Hold on, doesn't he need these to see. Why would he have left them on the ground in the living room? It's not like him to misplace them…_

Still holding the destroyed glasses in her hand, she stepping into the kitchen and was taken aback to see both her parents and Ron sitting around the table looking tired and very shaken. They all jumped when she came in, looking up at the same time at her. Her mother was the first to speak. 'Ginny, dear, what are you doing up so early?'

She shrugged again, not really sure it was wise to tell her mother exactly why she was up. 'Just had a good sleep, I guess. Mum, I found these in the living room…I kind of crushed them accidentally…a lot.' She laughed nervously hoping she wouldn't get in trouble. 'Did Harry lose them or something?'

Strangely none of them said nothing and even went to the extent of avoiding eye contact staring eagerly into the base of their mugs. There was something they weren't telling her, something about Harry. 'What's going on?' she asked, getting worried. 'Has something happened?'

Still none of them answered her, just glancing amongst themselves nervously.

'Where's Harry? Is he ok?' Again she received no reply and she immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. 'Something has happened to him…

'No, no Sweetie,' said Mrs Weasley, going over to her and hugging her warmly. 'Harry's perfectly safe.'

'Then where is he?' she demanded, looking over to Ron who was still avoiding eye contact with her. Ron looked in a right state, he was paler than usual and he had bags under his eyes which made him look older than she'd ever seen him. From the look on his face one would have thought that Harry had died…or worse. Her Dad sat across the table watching his youngest son carefully; he didn't look too good either. In fact, all of them looked as if they hadn't gotten any sleep at all that night.

'Ginny,' her mum said to her, and she was sure she was about to be let in on the secret. 'Harry…

Molly was cut off by the sound of two people flooing into the living room fireplace and stumbling onto the rug clumsily.

'Ow! Sirius, I told you to wait a while before coming after me, you blundering buffoon! Get off! And what do you think you're doing…change back into your dog form! Do you _want_ to get caught!'

'Bloody hell, Moony, you're too cautious! Honestly! What are the chances of a Ministry official walking through the door spontaneously and arresting me?'

'Gee, let me think…HUGE, as Arthur works at the Ministry! Ministry employees would call every now and then with urgent calls for him!'

'Remus, you're overreacting!'

'No, I'm not! It's this sort of attitude that prevents you from being allowed out more often! Really, you're lucky to be here at all after that stunt you pulled last week!'

'That's not fair! How was I supposed to know she was a hypnotising, flesh-eating demon in disguise? Besides, _SHE_ came onto _ME_!'

'You left the headquarters unarmed and unprotected AND IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!'

'Like I said, she'd hypnotised me! I couldn't stop it!'

'You couldn't stop it _because_ you have no self control what-so-ever!'

The door open and two very sooty wizards walked in smiling, obviously thinking they hadn't heard their heated quarrel in the living room.

'Remus, Sirius,' Arthur greeted them warmly, evidently welcoming the sudden interruption, 'so good to see you both.'

'It's good to see you, Arthur,' smiled Sirius, shaking Arthur's hand. 'Hello Molly, Ron…and you must be Ginny.'

'Yes,' Remus agreed, 'we're actually surprised you're all up so early.'

'As are we,' said Molly, 'and what exactly would make you come to our house so early in the morning; and unexpectedly?'

'We're sorry we didn't send word before we came, Molly…

'Oh no, you misunderstood me, Remus, it's fine. It's very nice to see both of you.'

'Well, Sirius wanted to see Harry on his birthday so I convinced Moody to let him come for a while,' Remus explained.

'Is he upstairs?' Sirius asked eagerly.

Silence again.

'Actually, Sirius,' Arthur finally spoke up, 'Harry left earlier this morning. He's on the Express to Hogwarts now; he'll be staying at the school from now on.'

Sirius' smile immediately disappeared. 'Why?' he demanded.

'Arthur, why wasn't the Order alerted of this?'

'It was all so sudden, Remus. Dumbledore gave the orders to move him, he isn't safe here.'

'Actually, Sirius,' Molly interrupted, 'I think you should go to Hogwarts and speak to him. Something has happened that you should know about.'

'What?' Sirius and Remus said together, starting to get worried.

'I don't think we can tell you,' said Arthur, 'besides I think Harry would prefer you heard it from him anyway. Remus, if you get Moody to send word to Dumbledore I'm sure the headmaster will arrange for you and Sirius to take the Express to the school; disguised of course. The next trip isn't till tomorrow night so you have plenty of time.'

_What is that annoying thumping sound?_

Harry's eyes fluttered open, it was still dark but morning was definitely on it's way. He was surprised to find himself waking up in the exact same place he had the previous morning: in Severus' room. At first he was confused but then he remember last night events and he relaxed but where was…

His father was fast asleep beside him and Harry was surprised again, and a little alarmed, to find he had his arm on the man's chest. That's what the thumping sound had been, he had heard Severus' heart.

Not wanting to wake his father after having crashed in on him last night he stayed where he was, resting his head back on Severus' chest. He was exhausted after last night, and besides, he didn't feel like getting up just yet. He thought someone should probably be out watching Malfoy…but, to hell with the git, he was perfectly happy here and the bloody Slytherin wasn't going to take that away from him. He listened contently to the other man's heartbeat as his chest slowly rose and then fell repeatedly. He had never seen the professor so relaxed; so at peace before. He wondered what Ron would say if he told him about this. _He probably wouldn't believe me._

He buried his face in the quilts to stop himself from giggling and disturbing Severus. He noticed that his father wasn't under the covers like him and frowned when he realised how cold he must be. He saw another blanket folded on the edge on the bed, probably used for colder weather, unfolded it and pulled it over them making sure most of it covered his father.

A glimmer of gold caught his eyes and he glanced up again and saw it was a chain around his father's neck. Curiously he took the chain and pulled in out from under the man shirt until he found a golden locket attached to it. It was beautiful, he wondered where his father had gotten it. He handled it carefully, turning it slowly over in his fingers. It was covered in ancient runes that had to be at least a few hundred years old but it shone so brilliantly it could have been brand new. He found an opening but stopped just as he was about to open the clasp. His father may not want him looking in there.

'You can look if you want,' he heard a voice and looked up to see his father had awoken, 'but I wouldn't open it that way unless you want to go blind.'

Curiously, Harry turned it over and realised there was another opening on the other side that he hadn't noticed before. He pried it open, slightly taken aback when he saw no picture and only a foggy mirror inside.

'What does it do?'

'It shows you the person or people you love most in the world,' Severus sighed and smirked when he saw the look of disbelief on his son's face. He watched as Harry stared down at the mirror for a minute or so before glancing up at him again questioningly.

'Does it only work for you?' Harry asked him.

'No,' he said, 'it works for everyone who gazes into it. Why?'

'I can't see anyone…'

It was Severus turn to look confused. 'Who do you love most in the world?'

Harry looked at his sadly. 'I…I don't know.'

'Well, maybe that's your problem right there.'

'Who do you see, Severus?'

'Your mother,' he said, taking the locket back from Harry and staring at it fondly. 'She gave it to me. She had one exactly the same that I gave to her.' Grief suddenly filled his dark eyes and for a moment Harry thought he was going to break down but he managed to get control over his emotions. Instead he pulled the chain over his head and held it out for Harry to take. Harry looked at it and then at his father, clearly shocked. 'Go on. Take it,' Severus told him.

'No, I couldn't,' he gasped, struggling to find his voice, 'Mum gave that to you; it's too precious.'

'I want you to have it, consider it a late birthday present' his father insisted, taking Harry's hand and placing the locket in his palm. 'Besides, I have something much better from her now.'

Harry couldn't take his eyes off the locket in his hand and couldn't believe Severus had given it to him. This locket was from his mother; it was a treasure. He was absolutely overwhelmed. 'Th-thank you so…so much, Severus,' he managed to stutter.

'Your welcome.' His father placed the chain around the boy's neck gently, smiling when he thought how good it looked with those sparkling emerald eyes. He put his arm around the boy's shoulder, pulling him closer. 'How did you sleep?'

'After those potions, fine,' said Harry, 'best sleep I've had in a long time actually. Severus, why do you think I'm having these dreams?'

'I don't know but I know nothing good can come of them. There must be some kind of connection between you and the Dark Lord that's causing them. We should speak to Professor Dumbledore about them and soon.'

Severus' sleeve had gone up slightly when he'd placed his arm around Harry and now both of them could clearly see the Mark that tainted his pale skin. Severus immediately tried to cover it up but he was stopped when Harry grabbed his wrist, preventing him from hiding it. Instead the boy pulled his sleeve up further until all of the Mark was visible gently running his fingers over it.

'Did it hurt?'

'It hasn't stopped hurting since,' he whispered, relaxing under the boy's touch. For some reason the contact of Harry's fingertips eased the irritable aching that was usually there, until it was hardly noticeable at all. Again his son surprised him pulling his lower arm to his face, Harry soothed it with his thumb before kissing the Mark lightly.

'Better?' the boy asked him.

'Why the hell did you do that?

Harry laughed nervously to himself. 'I don't know…I…I've seen mothers do it with their children to make them feel better when they fall over or something…I've always wondered…if…if it really works…Does it?'

His father laughed, startling Harry at first. He had never heard the professor laugh like this before, it was slightly strange seeing him do it now but definitely not a bad 'strange'. Severus looked down at Harry's embarrassed red face which only made him laugh harder. He made himself stop and glanced at the clock to see it was nearly seven.

'We should get up,' he said, 'before Mr Malfoy can get himself into more trouble.'

'Yeh,' Harry agreed, sitting up and stretching his arms out in front of him. Harry jumped out of the bed and headed down the hallway to the bathroom which was next to Malfoy's room. He pushed on the door but no matter how much he tried it wouldn't open. Groaning, he pressed his ear to the door and could faintly hear a shower going inside; someone was in there already.

'Malfoy?' he called, getting no answer at first. 'Malfoy!'

'What?' he heard from behind the door.

'Are you going to be done anytime soon?

'Don't count on it, Potty!'

Groaning, he kick the door angrily and went back into his father's room. Severus still hadn't gotten up, in fact, he'd fallen back to sleep! Annoyed, Harry picked up a pillow on the floor and threw it at him. The man grunted tiredly, opening his eyes again.

'What happened with 'getting up'?' Harry asked him.

'Sorry,' Severus muttered, 'I guess I'm more tired then I realised.'

Harry's aggravation went down a notch, realising the fact his father hadn't gotten enough sleep was his fault. 'Yeh, sorry about that; you know you can keep sleeping if you like. I was just wondering if I could use your shower, Malfoy's hogging the other bathroom.'

'Sure,' Severus grumbled, falling asleep already.

'Thanks.'

Severus watched him go into his bathroom and close the door behind him. He relaxed back on his pillow, enjoying just laying there and not having to do anything. A moment later he could hear water running in the bathroom when Harry turned the shower on and he found himself looking down at his arm where Harry had just kissed it…and nearly had a heart attack…

Harry lent on the shower wall, enjoying the feeling of the hot water running down his back. He fingered the locket around his neck, he had just placed a waterproof charm on it so it wouldn't rust. This way he would never have to take it off; he was never going to let this locket out of his sight.

'HARRY!'

He was so shocked he almost hit his head on the tiled wall. Wondering what could possibly have caused his father to yell out like that he turned the shower off, threw his clothes back on without drying himself properly and hurried out the bathroom almost slipping again on the wet floor as he went. Severus was sitting on the edge of the bed, shaking like crazy.

Harry ran immediately to his side. 'Severus! What's wrong?'

'It's gone,' he heard him whisper.

'What's gone, Severus?'

His father held out his arm in front of him for both of them to see. Harry gasped out loud, realising what Severus had been talking about. Severus' arm was bare! The Dark Mark had completely vanished!

'How did you do that?'

Harry glanced at him confused. 'Do what?'

'That!' Severus shouted, waving his arm in front of Harry's face. 'It's entirely disappeared! What the hell did you do?'

'Me?' said Harry, 'I didn't do nothing!'

'Then how do you explain…

'Are you sure it's not just being hidden by some spell…

'You can't do that! Glamour doesn't work on it…

'But why are you blaming me…'Harry stopped short when Severus shot one of his trademark glares at him angrily.

'Well, I certainly didn't do anything! Why would I want to get rid of it if I'm working? Don't you think that would blow my cover!'

'Well…hey!' Harry lashed out at him. 'I thought you agreed you were going to quit!'

Severus paled a fraction. 'I…well…' he stuttered. Harry felt a heavy weight fall on his chest. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was going to turn nasty.

**YAY! We've finished Part Two of the series. THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AGAIN! **

**Now before you come and kill me in my sleep…it's about time someone brought Lily back! I don't care if you think it's absurd! I'm looking for something fresh, something different…and you know what they say…'If you want something done, do it yourself!' So I thought what the hay! And I did! **

**And it feels good!**

**So from here on, (…you know how its been all nice and pleasant and easy going so far…), well I'm going to rough things up from now on…starting with bringing Sirius into the picture and I'm going to stick to tradition for this one. You only get one thing when you put Severus and Sirius in the same scene and that is a fight! Plus another little surprise about those two that I just thought about the other day. And it will all go a little downhill from there, but stay with me, I promise a happy ending.**

**I'M JUST FINISHING PUTTING TOGETHER PART THREE SO I'LL POST THAT UP ASAP! It's going to be called 'Never Let Me Go' so keep eye out for it...and thanks again!**


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